Whitehorse cyclist Heron Land-Gillis is making a strong entrance into the competitive cycling scene, having earned a spot at the upcoming junior nationals and the Canada Summer Games on Yukon’s cycling team.
At 17 years old, this is Land-Gillis’ first season racing at the national level and he has already received notable recognition. On June 15, he placed first in the junior men’s category at the 2025 Canadian Gravel Championships, held in Alberta, a significant milestone in his first season competing outside the Yukon.
“This gives me a lot of confidence to go forward and go into these other outside races and these other nationals and other disciplines,” Land-Gillis said.
With his sights set on the 2025 Canadian Road Championships beginning June 27, the Canada Summer Games starting Aug. 8 and an international race lined up in Belgium this July, Land-Gillis is training almost every day, logging around 20 to 30 hours a week on Yukon roads.
“During the summer, it's going to be a lot more racing and recovery rather than, you know, full training weeks. But this spring, it's been a lot of like structured workouts with the team, as well as workouts by myself or with friends on the weekends,” Land-Gillis said.
Behind Land-Gillis’s demanding training schedule is a strong local support system, including organized coaching from Hudson Lucier at the Cycling Association of Yukon and from fellow athletes on the Team Yukon contingent set to compete at the Canada Summer Games in August.
The Cycling Association of Yukon has supported Land-Gillis’s competitive growth by organizing trips, races and development camps for its members to participate in the sport more competitively.
Land-Gillis told the News that Lucier accompanied him and five other Yukon athletes to the Hayman Future Champions Camp, held in Penticton, B.C., from May 22 to 25. According to the organizer’s official website, the camp offers aspiring young road cyclists an opportunity to learn from Canada’s top coaches and most experienced former professionals.
Based on his race results at the four-day camp, Land-Gillis was selected by Cycling Canada as one of eight riders to compete in the European Belgium Project race, an event designed to promote the professional development of up-and-coming cyclists.
“The Hayman Future Champions Camp was put on by Cycling Canada and the head coaches were there from Canada: Nigel Ellsay and Richard Wooles,” Land-Gillis said.
“It was an amazing experience to be able to train outside of the Yukon with a whole bunch of kids from across Canada that have gained experience, both from the coaches and from those that have also been racing at a very high level.”
After returning from Belgium, Land-Gillis will shift his focus to the Canada Summer Games in August, where he’ll represent Yukon in the country’s annual multi-sporting events tournament in the road and cross-country mountain bike races.
For Land-Gillis, the Canada Summer Games mark a major milestone in his athletic journey. He said one of his top goals this season is to represent the Yukon and challenge himself against older riders, an opportunity, he said, to reflect on how far he’s come in his first national-level season.
Land-Gillis’s journey to national competition began far from the race circuits. Growing up in Vancouver, he spent summers biking across Canada with his family, not for medals, but for the joy of the ride, he told the News.
When he moved to the Yukon at age nine, that joy found a new direction.
In Whitehorse, Land-Gillis described a close-knit cycling community that welcomed him in. He began riding more often, joining group rides and using his bike to get around. At the same time, he was competing in cross-country skiing, a sport he said would quietly lay the foundation for his endurance and discipline.
“The biking community in Yukon is really, you know, strong,” Land-Gillis said.
“There's always, you know, group rides and races that are being organized. So that's really welcoming as well.”
Through skiing, Land-Gillis was introduced to structured training and eventually competitive cycling. With support from the Cycling Association of Yukon and Team Yukon coaches, he made the leap this year from local rides to national races, a steady climb that’s now brought him to the Canada Summer Games.
Contact Jake Howarth at jake.howarth@yukon-news.com
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly named Heron Land-Gillis as Heron Land-Murphy the News regrets the error.
